Chelsea ran riot at Swansea City, scoring four times before half-time on the way to a 5-0 win that sent Jose Mourinho’s side five points clear in the Premier League yesterday.

Brazil midfielder Oscar and Spain striker Diego Costa scored two apiece inside the opening 36 minutes as Swansea were torn to shreds. Andre Schuerrle got his name on the scoresheet late in a more even second half.

“It was very good, we hit the post twice and could have got even more,” Mourinho, who will be hoping Arsenal can take points off second-placed champions Manchester City this afternoon, told Sky Sports.

Third-placed Southampton continue to impress as they beat Newcastle 2-1 away with Eljero Elia hitting both goals for the visitors in the late kick-off.

Manchester United remained fourth, 12 points behind Chelsea, with second-half substitutes Ma-rouane Fellaini and James Wilson on target in a 2-0 win at second-bottom QPR.

Jermain Defoe’s record of scoring on his first appearance for every club he has played for came to an end as Sunderland lost 2-1 at his former club Tottenham Hotspur.

Christian Eriksen struck a late winner to give Spurs a seventh 2-1 league victory of the season and lift them above Arsenal.

Eleven months after leaving Tottenham for a short-lived spell with Toronto FC in the MLS, Defoe, 32, was given a warm reception by the home fans when he ran out in Sunderland’s unfamiliar all-blue away strip.

He was also applauded when he was substituted after 75 minutes, having rarely threatened to score.

Defoe had previously scored on his debut for Bournemouth, West Ham United, Tottenham and Toronto FC.

Seventh-placed Liverpool’s push for a top-four finish gathered momentum when Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert scored in a 2-0 victory at Aston Villa who have now gone five league games without a goal.

Crystal Palace recovered from 2-0 down to snatch a vital 3-2 win at fellow strugglers Burnley, their second consecutive victory since Alan Pardew took charge taking them up to 12th.

Bottom club Leicester City’s recent burst of form which had earned them seven points from three games was halted by 1-0 home loss to Stoke City, Bojan Krkic scoring the winner.

Swansea have proved tough opponents in south Wales since joining the Premier League in 2011 and had only suffered two home defeats this season, but they were no match for a rampant Chelsea side who oozed class.

From the moment Oscar ruthlessly punished an errant pass by Gylfi Sigurdsson in the home defence to put Chelsea ahead in the first minute, the writing was on the wall for the hosts.

A slick one-touch passing move ended with Costa making it 2-0 after 20 minutes and the Spaniard made it 3-0 following more dozy Swansea defending.

Oscar’s second, a cheeky dink over busy Swans keeper Lukasz Fabianski, was followed quickly by Willian striking the crossbar as Chelsea threatened to run up a rugby score.

The fizz went out of the visitors in the second half and they had to be content with just one more goal when Schuerrle got the final touch to deny Oscar a hat-trick.

Mourinho has been tetchy lately, but offered sympathy to his Swansea counterpart Gary Monk.

“There are matches that go away from our control and as managers we can’t do much,” he said.

“I can understand that he was frustrated but the only thing I can say is that it’s better to lose one match 5-0 than to lose five games 1-0.”

Results and standings

Premier League

Aston Villa 0
Liverpool 2
Borini 25; Lambert 79;

HT: 0-1. Att: 39,758.

Burnley 2
Mee 13; Ings 15;
Crystal Palace 3
Gayle 28, 88; Puncheon 48;

HT: 2-1. Att: 17,782.

Leicester City 0
Stoke City 1
Krkic 63;

HT: 0-0. Att: 31,772.

Newcastle 1
Gouffran 29;
Southampton 2
Elia 14, 62;

HT: 1-1. Att: 49,307.

QPR 0
Man. United 2
Fellaini 58; Wilson 90;

HT: 0-1. Att: 18,098.

Swansea City 0
Chelsea 5
Oscar 1, 36; Costa 20, 35; Schuerrle 80;

HT: 0-4. Att: 20,785.

Tottenham 2
Vertonghen 3; Eriksen 88;
Sunderland 1
Larsson 31;

HT: 1-1. Att: 35,973.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Chelsea	22	16	4	2	51	19	52
Man. City	21	14	5	2	45	20	47
S’thampton	22	13	3	6	37	16	42
Man. United	22	11	7	4	36	21	40
Tottenham	22	11	4	7	32	30	37
Arsenal	21	10	6	5	37	25	36
Liverpool	22	10	5	7	31	27	35
West Ham	21	9	6	6	32	25	33
Swansea	22	8	6	8	26	30	30
Stoke City	22	8	5	9	23	27	29
Newcastle	22	7	6	9	26	35	27
C. Palace	22	5	8	9	25	33	23
Everton	21	5	7	9	30	34	22
Aston Villa	22	5	7	10	11	25	22
West Brom	21	5	6	10	20	29	21
Sunderland	22	3	11	8	19	33	20
Burnley	22	4	8	10	21	36	20
Hull City	21	4	7	10	20	27	19
QPR	22	5	4	13	23	39	19
Leicester	22	4	5	13	20	34	17

Playing today
Manchester City vs Arsenal - 17:00
West Ham Utd vs Hull City - 14:30

Tomorrow
Everton vs West Bromwich - 21:00

Top scorers
17 goals: Costa (Chelsea).
14 goals: Aguero (Man. City).
13 goals: Austin (QPR).
12 goals: Sanchez (Arsenal).
9 goals: Cisse (Newcastle), Bony (Man. City), Berahino (West Brom).

Next fixtures

Tuesday: League Cup SF (first leg) 20.45 Liverpool vs Chelsea.

Wednesday: League Cup SF (first leg) 20.45 Tottenham Hotspur vs Sheffield United.

Friday: FA Cup fourth round 20.55 Cambridge vs Man. United.

Saturday: FA Cup fourth round 13.45 Blackburn vs Swansea. 16.00 Birmingham vs West Bromwich; Cardiff vs Reading; Chelsea vs Bradford; Derby vs Chesterfield; Man. City vs Middlesbrough; Preston NE vs Sheffield United; Southampton vs C. Palace; Sunderland vs Fulham; Tottenham vs Leicester. 18.30 Liverpool vs Bolton Wanderers.

Sunday: FA Cup fourth round 15.00 Bristol City vs West Ham. 16.00 Aston Villa vs Bournemouth. 17.00 Brighton vs Arsenal.

Monday, Jan. 26: FA Cup, fourth round: 21.00 Rochdale vs Stoke City.

The Championship
Brighton 0 - Brentford 1
Derby County 1 - Nottm Forest 2
Fulham 2 - Reading 1
Leeds United 1 - Birmingham 1
M’brough 2 - Huddersfield 0
Millwall 1 - Ipswich Town 3
Norwich City 3 - Cardiff City 2
Rotherham 0 - Bournemouth 2
Sheffield Wed. 1 - Bolton 2
Watford 5 - Charlton 0
Wigan 1 - Blackburn 1
Wolves 2 - Blackpool 0

Standings: Bournemouth 51; Ipswich Town 50; Derby County 48; Middlesbrough 47; Brentford 46; Watford 44; Norwich City, Wolves 43; Sheffield Wednesday 37; Blackburn Rovers 36; Birmingham 35; Nottingham Forest, Cardiff City 34; Bolton 33; Fulham, Charlton, Huddersfield Town 31; Reading 30; Brighton, Leeds United, Rotherham United 26; Millwall 23; Wigan 21; Blackpool 17.

League One
Colchester 0 - Walsall 2
Doncaster 1 - Barnsley 0
Fleetwood 0 - Oldham 2
Gillingham 3 - Coventry City1
MK Dons 1 - Sheffield Utd 0
Notts County 2 - Crewe 1
Port Vale 2 - Peterborough 1
Rochdale 4 - Crawley Town 1
Scunthorpe 0 - Bristol City 2
Swindon Town 3 - Chesterfield 1
Yeovil Town 1 - Bradford 0

Standings: Swindon Town, Bristol City 54; MK Dons 48; Preston 46; Rochdale 37; Bradford City, Sheffield United 36; Chesterfield, Port Vale 35; N. County, Fleetwood, Oldham, Doncaster 34; Walsall 33; Peterborough 31; Barnsley, Scunthorpe, Coventry 29; Gillingham 28; Leyton Orient, Crewe 26; Colchester, Crawley Town 24; Yeovil Town 23.

League Two
Wimbledon 1 - Carlisle United 3
Bury 1 - Wycombe 1
Cambridge 4 - Newport 0
Mansfield 2 - Exeter City 3
Northampton 1 - Dagenham 0
Oxford 2 - Southend 3
Plymouth 0 - Luton Town1
Portsmouth 1 - Burton Albion 1
Shrewsbury 3 - Hartlepool 0
Tranmere 3 - Accrington 0
York City 0 - Stevenage 2

Standings: Wycombe 51; Burton 50; Shrewsbury 48; Luton, Newport 46; Southend 44; Stevenage 41; Exeter City 40; Plymouth 39; Bury 38; Morecambe 36; Cambridge 35; Wimbledon, Accrington 33; Northampton 31; Portsmouth, Oxford United, Cheltenham 29; York City, Mansfield Town, Carlisle United 27; Tranmere, Dagenham 26; Hartlepool 17.